The Scourge of Modern-Day Technology and Age-Old Stupidity

I've been navigating the Terri Schiavo debate for the better part of a week; some of my observations have made it here, some haven't, and some have eked through not only on this topic but in others as well.

The whole issue, for me, can be summed up in one statement I made in the comments field of another blog, "The Bennelli Brothers." The link, if you're so inclined, is here: http://bennellibrothers.com/blog/archives/2005/03/more_schiavo.php

"Logic aside, and speaking strictly on principle, it amazes me that people who so staunchly trumpet family values and the sanctity of life are so quick to desecrate the former and make a mockery of the latter."

Essentially, as I confessed to friends over the weekend, I have gotten increasingly weary hearing, depending on your perspective, how this woman is suffering or not suffering, how she can never improve or can absolutely improve, and how many protesters are being arrested. Now that might sound like superficial bullshit, but I am not minimizing the tragic, heart-wrenching struggle at the center of which this woman resides. I just think it's disgusting that so many people are weighing on this situation in so many ways: protesters, clergymen, politicians, and attorneys...obviously this has polarized the nation much like other life/death issues like abortion and the death penalty. It's not about life or death, it's about people who don't know you and whom you don't know telling you how to govern your own body, and the bodies of people who have done something wrong (either had sex that accidentally produced a child or committed murder). It's outrageous, repugnant and pathetic to think that there are people who think they have the right -- if not the responsibility -- to sound off and/or involve themselves in lives and issues therein to which they have no business even being privy.

Or as they say in the vernacular, "shut the fuck up and mind your own damned business."

Oh...and to protesters who feel the need (or that it's appropriate) to bring their children to the hospice site to be arrested in attempting to bring Ms. Schiavo water: you're sick. Your actions remind me not of minions of mercy, not of teaching your children to be charitable and kind and compassionate... you remind me of members of the Ku Klux Klan that bring children to white-power rallies to burn in effigy members of races which they brand as inferior.

One final point: just wait until these two sides become embroiled in the fight over where Ms. Schiavo's body will be buried, once it is either cremated or embalmed. I don't see any light at the end of this tunnel, and I highly doubt there will ever be. There are and will be no winners here, and, believe it or not, I'm looking forward to lamenting the stupid shit we as consumers of American news will be force-fed once the Schiavo case resides only in our memories.

Some possibly stupid topics for future consideration:

• Does Britney Spears have fake boobies?
• Are gay marriages legal, and should they be sanctioned or prohibited on a state or federal level?
• Should guidance counsellors be permitted to recommend exotic dancing as a possible profession for high-school-age women?
• Should marijuana be legalized? And if so, could you send me some?
• Is that "old guy in a tuxedo" on the Six Flags commercial irritating, or really irritating?
• What is the best invention created in America? The telephone, chocolate, or cleavage?
• And finally, will Michael Jackson receive time off for good behavior for teaching his future fellow inmates how to moonwalk?

These and other questions await our review once the Schiavo case ceases to occupy the nation's consciousness.

I can't wait.